Healthy Pumpkin Brownie

I've had this idea to try making a Pumpkin Brownie for a while. Pumpkin is naturally sweet and adds moisture to a cake so I thought it would probably work really well as a way of leaving out the butter and the oil that are normally a LARGE part of what goes into a brownie. Turns out, I was right.

There's also no added sugar other than what's in the small amount of dark chocolate chips and maple syrup. Some brownie recipes I have made in the past have at least 1 cup of processed sugar in them - sometimes closer to 2 cups! The good news is, you don’t have to add that much sugar to get a really delicious, sweet brownie. In this recipe, the natural sweetness of the pumpkin and the banana (as well as the chocolate chips and maple syrup) really is enough to make it plenty sweet.

Healthy Pumpkin Brownie

Ingredients

1 cup (250g) steamed pumpkin*
1 ripe banana, peeled.
50g dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tablespoon maple syrup
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup Self-Raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Traditional Method

1. Preheat oven to 160◦c.
2. Line a 27cm x 17.5cm x 3.5cm slice / brownie tin with baking paper and set aside.
3. Using a food processor with blade fitting, process pumpkin and banana on low speed until just smooth.
4. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until just combined.
5. Pour into pan and bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing and placing on a cake airer to fully-cool. Slice into 12 even portions. Store in the fridge. ENJOY!

Thermomix Method (TM5 or TM6)

1. Preheat oven to 160◦c.
2. Line a 27cm x 17.5cm x 3.5cm slice / brownie tin with baking paper and set aside.
3. Place pumpkin and banana into mixing bowl, insert measuring cup into mixing bowl lid and process pumpkin and banana 10 sec / Speed 6. Scrape down sides of bowl with spatula.
4. Add remaining ingredients and mix 10 sec / Speed 2.5 / Reverse.
5. Pour into pan and bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing and placing on a cake airer to fully-cool. Slice into 12 even portions. Store in the fridge. ENJOY!

*To steam the pumpkin, peel and cut into squares (roughly 4cm). Steam in vegetable steamer on stove top or using Thermomix Varoma for approximately 20 minutes. Allow to cool and drain for 10 minutes before proceeding with making the brownie.